The Best Camera is the One You Have With You!

WARNING: THE IMAGES YOU WILL SEE MAY BE DISTURBING!

You may have heard the adage that the best camera is the one you have with you at the time it's needed.  I want to always have a camera with me but a heavy bag (20 pounds or more!) loaded with a DSLR, four or five lenses, a flash etc.  make it easy to decide do without.  A cell phone is handy when nothing else is available and I've gotten some good images form my iPhone.  But, I wanted more.

So, for Father's Day, I asked for a Canon G12, a high level point-and-shoot that fits the bill for my desire to have a camera but without the need for a beast-of-burden to carry it!  (CLICK HERE FOR INFO)  I took it on a recent trip to San Francisco and got some great images (more on that later.)


On Sunday, July 22, I was visiting my son Jonathan and his lovely wife Kim  in Troy, Alabama.  he wanted to show me the new Trojan Arena under construction on the university campus.  As we arrived, my first view of the building proved it was worth my while to have brought my G12. 

As we approached the building, we had to pass near some Live Oak trees.  We heard what I thought to be hawks crying in the trees.  We saw one Red-tail Hawk fly from the tree to another one nearby but the cries from the trees keep coming.  At least two more hawks flew from the tree and circled in the air nearby.

I then saw one hawk on the ground at the base of the tree.    At first I thought the hawk was injured due to the way he was holding his wings. 

We were within 25 feet when I realized he was holding a squirrel in his talons.  I am not familiar with the habits of these birds of prey but I think he must have been hiding his catch from other birds. 

The hawk appears to a be a juvenile and as such was probably more interested in his meal than fleeing the possible threat we presented.  I began to snap photos and take some videos as he returned to his meal.  He kept a pretty good watch on us but I was able to circle all the way around him trying to get the best light.

At one point, I was hidden from his view by the trunk of the oak tree and approached to within 8 feet.  When I leaned around the tree to get this close-up image, he appeared to warn me that if I got any closer, I would be the next meal!

While I would have loved to have had my big lens, either 70-200 or 100-400, I used the little G12 to its fullest.  The lens offers a 28 to 140 zoom (35mm equivalent) and it did a pretty good job of capturing the dark feathers in the shade of the oak.  The mottled light offered some challenges and at times I added a touch of flash to try to fill in.  I'm not sure the flash actually improved anything since I was using the built in flash and at that distance it tends to be ineffective.

I finally tired of the effort after about 30 minutes and left the beautiful creature to his meal. 

As I prepare these images for printing, publication and public viewing, I realize that some will be less than thrilled with the gruesome images of one creature devouring another but that's nature.  Yes, animals were injured in the making of this blog!  Just not by me!

And the image I started out to get:

On the way home, the G12 proved to be a valuable companion once again:

One Lucky Photographer

The title says it all, my attitude toward my work as a photographer, the opportunities I have to make pictures.

Let me explain.  Most of you know that my day job is in hospital administration.  My hospital doesn't have a staff photographer, although we borrow one occasionally from another division of the University.  When we have really special projects, I can choose to do the work or get someone else.  Of course I cherry pick!  The best, most fun jobs I take on, time permitting.

 When we decided to display portraits of our staff in the cafeteria entrance, I took the task.  I got to take the pictures and then print them on canvas gallery wraps, 16x20 and put them in the public!  I get creative decision making, I get location choice, I get to pull the people from their jobs for as long as I need!

When we needed aerial pictures of the hospital, I was able to get a helicopter to fly me around for a few minutes.

When we need some actions shots of people doing their jobs, I took the job,  This resulted in almost unrestricted access to areas most folks never get to see unless they're under anesthesia!

Now I have pictures that are more illustrative of what surgery is all about but I will refrain from posting them.  But the image you see capture the drama of of surgery, the intensity of the health professionals while they have someone else's life in the balance.   The surgery above lasted for more than 12 hours, I was there five minutes.

 A vascular surgery was my next stop.  This was more interesting photographically because of the lighting.  The were putting catheters into the vessels in teh legs of the patient so a fluoroscopy was being used.  In order to see the image on the video monitor, the room lights were kept low.  This contrasted with the bright lights needed for the surgery so bright fell off to dark quickly.

Notice the intensity of the surgeon's eye as he looks across the room to the monitor.

 The physician's assistant watches the monitor for correct positioning of the catheter.

Again the effects of the lighting contrast makes this picture.

I told you I was lucky!  to get these opportunities has helped me hone my skills in a variety of situations, has given me exposure to a whole different market and given me access to 1200 models!

Reading and Learning

There are two writers that I hope to read and own everything they have written or ever will.The ifrst is the late, great Lewis Grizzard. Grizzard was a columnist for the Atlanta Journal Constitution for most of his life.  He did spend a year or so working in Chicago before he escaped back the deep South, as he put it.  He could make me belly laugh reading one page and on the next, I would be sobbing.  He toured as a comedian in his later years and I had the honor of seeing him perform in Mobile.

The other man whose writing has the same effect on me is Joe McNally.  McNally you say?  Doesn't he write about photography?

Yes he does and he does it very well.He does it in a very humorous way but on the next page tells a story that brings tears to your eyes.

I started reading his work because it addresses the style of photography I enjoy and that is working with different kinds of light together to create the image.  Isn't that what all photography is about, you ask?  Well, maybe.

There are purists who believe that it's natural light or none.  Then there are those who think their huge studio lights with the camera in Manual is the only way a true photographer works.

McNally uses whatever is necessary to get an image and tell the story he wants to tell.  And he's not afraid to say he uses a remote commander with the TTL working when he can or has to.  He doesn't let purism (is that a word?) get in the way of his photography.

His latest book, , Sketching Light, is an excellent example of how to use one or more speedlights to make the image.  How to shoot it through a diffuser, bounce it off a wall, ceiling or other.  Whatever it takes to get the job done.  His first two books were wonderful and will remain in my library forever.

(this image is borrowed from Amazon,com so you can't click on it but go to their site to purchase the book)

McNally shoots for Life, Nat Geo, Sports Illustrated magazines, to name a few.  He teaches workshops around the world and blogs.  And he writes books.

Check him out at joemcnally.com to see some of his work and to find links to his books and blog.

Enjoy!